red rooibos tea
by RebelzHeart
Summary: "Matt, it's the princess of Wakanda and Black Panther," Peter whispers, shaking Matt's shoulder, "I can die happy now." Part 16 of a cup of tea series.


The Royal family of Wakanda arrives with style (that, and a small black jar of ground up Rooibos).

"Mr. Stark," T'Challa greets Tony with a polite smile, "It's a pleasure to see you again."

"I wish that I could say I feel the same," Tony shook T'Challa's hand, "But I haven't quite called the court in on that one, yet."

Pepper elbowed Tony in the ribs, " _Tony_."

"What?" Tony sulked at Pepper, insulted, "I meet him at a UN meeting, expecting some peaceful prince from a third world country, and then it turns out that he's the prince of the richest nation in the world and he goes around in a _black catsuit_?"

"Oh," Shuri rests her elbow on T'Challa's shoulder, a laugh bubbling from her lips, "I like this one."

Tony turns to Shuri and bows, "Your Highness, it's a pleasure."

Pepper buried her face in her hands and mumbled something about insufferable fiances and calling for Shuri to desist from enabling Tony.

Shuri offers T'Challa a wicked smile, "I _really_ like this one," she laughed, "No need to be all formal, Mr. Stark, I'm still a teenager."

"You're royalty," Tony quirked an eyebrow, "And, from what I've heard, the greatest genius of all time. I think that calls for a bit of formality."

"Well, then take this as an order from a princess," Shuri handed Tony the black jar of ground up Rooibos, "Loosen up. You're older than me, so it's kind of creepy. I heard you like tea?"

Tony absentmindedly accepted the jar, "Where did you hear that?" He asked.

"Word of the mill," Shuri raised an eyebrow, "Not going to show us around?"

"Well," Tony was suddenly very interested in his nails, "I mean, I totally could, but..."

" _Tony,_ here," Pepper huffed, elbowing him again, "Made an appointment for right now despite me _explicitly reminding him_ that you were arriving _at this time_..."

" _Pepper_ ," Tony whined, "I already told you that I forgot!"

Pepper shot Tony a withering stare, "Yeah, I know, that's the _problem_."

"It's no problem at all," T'Challa answered with a polite smile, "I don't suppose that these guests would be alright with a change in their schedule."

"Well..." Tony tapped his fingers against his chin and raised an eyebrow, "I don't suppose you would like to tag along?"

* * *

"Tony's late," Matt grumbles, tapping two fingers against the seat as he takes a sip of his coffee.

"It's only by a minute or so," Peter answers with a wry smile, tossing yet another marshmallow into his cup of hot chocolate, "Mr. Stark probably just got a little delayed by something fascinating. You know how he is."

"Unfortunately," Matt agreed, but there was no bite to his words, "Ah, he's arrived."

"He has?" Peter leaned over just as the door opened and Tony swept in, a fedora on his head and Ray-Bans on the bridge of his nose. "Ah, yep. There he is."

Tony swaggered over to Matt and Peter with confident ease and then snapped his fingers at the two people trailing him, "Matt, Peter, brought you some guests. This is T'Challa, the male, and Shuri's the younger female."

Matt, being the gentleman that he was, immediately stood up, shook hands, and smiled genially as he made all the proper greetings.

Peter just gaped.

"Mr. Stark," he whispered, "Is that..."

"Yeah," Tony ruffled Peter's hair, "If you ask nicely, you might be able to get an autograph."

Peter may or may not have been dying.

"Omigosh," he whispered, awed, "This is awesome."

"Yeah, I know that I am," Shuri smirked, "But what's T'Challa?"

T'Challa decided to ignore her, instead deciding to turn to Peter and hold out a hand, "It's a pleasure," He greeted Peter with a polite smile.

Peter squeaked and only took T'Challa's hand after some not-so-subtle prodding from Matt, "Mr. T'Challa, sir, you're so cool. I mean, obviously, you're cool. You're a king. Omigosh, am I supposed to be more in awe? Am I supposed to refer to you as your highness or something?"

Shuri is infinitely amused, "Be in awe of this loser? Nah. It's just T'Challa."

Peter is officially Dead in the Water.

"Matt, it's the _princess of Wakanda_ and _Black Panther_ ," Peter whispers, shaking Matt's shoulder, "I can die happy now."

"Is he always like this?" Shuri laughs.

T'Challa buries his face in his hands, "Please stop."

Tony just laughs.

* * *

"Okay, so, like, I was reading one of your interviews," Peter tinkers with a small piece of metal, "And you, like, _invented_ Black Panther's suit? That's, like, _so cool_. It's like you're a superhero team."

"My brother, a superhero?" Shuri laughs, "You Americans have strange ideas. He's just doing his job."

Peter bounces the piece of metal in his hands a while and then frowns and starts tinkering with it again. "His job? So the job of the King in Wakanda is to be, like, the defender both physically and politically?"

Shuri laces her hands behind her head and answers, "The job of the King of anywhere is to protect his country and his people, and if that means that he must be a warrior as well as a politician, then so be it."

"That's pretty cool," Peter chews on the inside of his lip, "So why is that the job of the King? Why doesn't he have soldiers to do that for him?"

"Soldiers," Shuri snorts, "What an American thing to say. We have Warriors, yes, but the King bears the responsibility of protecting the country. It is up to the King, not his subjects, to make sure the country is safe."

Peter is silent for a moment, the only sounds in the room the clank of metal against the wires.

"That's pretty cool," Peter finally says.

He throws his metal ball against the ceiling and it explodes into webs, thin white strands exploding all over the ceiling.

"T'Challa's duties?" Shuri squints at Peter's little knickknack, "Nah. Your thing is pretty cool, though. A bomb to suffocate the enemy?"

"I just want to keep them incapacitated," Peter jumped up and pulled down one of the strands, "But I had to alter it. It's breathable, see?"

"Yeah, that's cool," Shuri pokes at it and frowns, "But you know what would be _really_ cool?"

Peter has stars in his eyes, "No."

 _Tell me_ goes without saying.

"If," Shuri rubs the strand between her fingers, eyes sparkling, "We added _Vibranium_. Then the material will be far more flexible and stronger, and it'll _really_ be like a spider's web!"

"That _would_ be cool..." Peter's voice gained an edge of uncertainty, "But Vibranium's pretty expensive."

"Of course it is," Shuri scoffed, "I should know. I'm the monarch of the country that exports it." She winked at Peter, "I'll give you free Vibranium if you let me work on your suit."

Peter's stars were back. " _Yes, please_ ," he breathed.

Which is how T'Challa finds them an hour later, Shuri explaining her work to Peter and Peter excitedly asking questions.

"I suppose," T'Challa raises an eyebrow, "you wouldn't like some tea?"


End file.
